PASADENA – A local lumber chain will return to Pasadena about a century after its lumber yard in the city closed down.

Ganahl Lumber, now based in Orange County, has purchased the lot in East Pasadena which formerly housed the Team Chevrolet car dealership. The store will likely open in Spring of 2011, according to Peter Ganahl, the president of the company.

The property, at 3003 E. Colorado Boulevard, was sold to Ganahl last month for $9 million.

Ganahl said the company ran the city’s lumber yard from 1900 to 1910 on Union Street in what is now Old Pasadena.

“We love Pasadena,” Ganahl said. “The San Gabriel Valley is an important place for the business to be, and Pasadena is the ideal spot.”

The company is now based out of Anaheim, and has nine branches in Orange County.

The chain was originally founded in Los Angeles in 1884 by Ganahl’s great-grandfather and his brother, who were both Austrian immigrants.

They set up multiple yards throughout the county, but they were shut down throughout the 1920s and 30s, Ganahl said.

The chain reduced to a single store in Anaheim, then began to expand throughout Orange County in the 1970s.

The stores sell lumber, building materials and hardware, and about 90 percent of its business comes from contractors, Ganahl said.

The company will also run a showroom at the Pasadena facility, and is expecting some retail customers to visit there, he added.

Eric Duyshart, the city’s economic development manager, said the city is currently under-served in the building materials and lumber market. The city does not have a big box hardware retailer like Lowe’s or Home Depot, and many contractors likely go to neighboring cities for supplies, he said.

The company has also told the city they expect to be a strong provider of sales tax revenue.

“We’re pleased that Ganahl anticipates being able to provide the same level of revenue as Team Chevrolet did,” Duyshart said.

Car dealers are an important source of sales tax revenues for Southern California cities, including Pasadena.

Rusnak Auto Group, the local luxury car dealer group, also had interest in the property, Duyshart said. They own property next door and have discussed the possibility of relocating a dealership there.

Ganahl said he expects the store will create 40 to 50 jobs when it opens, and could eventually employ 60 to 80.

The company plans to mostly use buildings that are already on the property, and will do serious renovations on just one building, Ganahl added.

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